While I am not sure if I have extolled the virtues of MagMod in any of my previous blog postings I thought I would give it a jingle here. Simply put they are a company like you want all companies to be in the end. Still small so they answer quickly and usually personally. I have met Spencer and JJ before at the 2015 PPA convention in Nashville. I saw the booth and thought let me check that out! I was already considering what kind of modifiers I wanted to use on my speedlites. I had a Gary Fong Lightsphere and I was quite happy with it. But I wanted to modify with more than simply a diffusion globe on the flashes, so I wandered over to the MagMod booth and just peered over shoulders and took a few quick glances at what they had. Then they had the MagBounce, MagSphere, MagGrid and MagSnoot as well as gels. So I looked saw the prices and was a little discouraged at first, I was hoping they would be closer to my price point. Thankfully it was a three day expo and I had time to think about my choice. I looked over the Rogue lighting stuff as well as that was my initial though before spotting MagMod. The prices on the Rogue equipment were a little less but I simply couldn't shake the build quality difference between them. So the last day of the conference and expo I wandered over to the booth again (less people this time...hard to hide then!) JJ came up and asked how I was and if I was enjoying my first PPA conference (heard it a bunch because of the "First Timer" streamer on my badge.) I said I was enjoying it and was looking at their product a little more closely today. He was right there but not intrusive answered every question I had. I was a little curious about the usage on the MagBounce and what kind of fill area it could give inside 5ft. I ordered a MagBounce, MagSnoot, MagMod basic kit, another MagGrip and the Creative Gel set. I had intended to use them within days on a shoot in SC. Unfortunately due to model wrangling I didn't get the chance to do so. But I did get the chance to play with them after I returned home in bone chilling weather shooting icicles and playing around. What I saw I really liked but knew that I was missing a couple pieces. I had only one MagGrid in the Basic Kit and with 3 of them (they stack) it pushes the light down to a much tighter beam. Much like different honeycomb grids elsewhere, only these are the same so no worry about what angle of degree grid I put on the light. I also knew that the MagSphere was the game changer for me kind of like a Fong Lightsphere, only I can put on my MagSphere in less time than it took to type this sentence! Plus I like the amount of light I get from it better then my Fong. I have used my MagMod stuff but not to the extent I would like to do so. So thankfully I have a Dog Show win photo setup coming at the end of this week so I am going to get a prime time chance to use my MagMod stuff. 

Now why did I write this today? Well to be honest I knew that I needed a second MagSphere for the type of lighting shot I want to do at the dog show. So that meant I had to place an order with my friends at MagMod. I placed the order at a little after 10AM EST and a little bit after 11AM EST I had already received an email that my order had shipped! Now that is a company I enjoy doing business with and giving a shout out to for awesome customer service! So aside from the MagSphere that I "needed" to setup the shots on Friday I also bought the newest MagMod product to hit the scene (only a little over a month ago!) The MagBeam, it is an extendable snoot type device with a Frensel Lens on it than can be interchanged for wide angle and narrower beam profiles. The also have gobos (12 of them at the time of this writing) 4 basic shapes come with the basic MagBeam kit but I also chose one of the other 4 packs of shapes. I think I am going to be shooting for MagSpheres on the sides angled in and the MagBeam set high and directly behind me aimed on the dog for the shots. I am hoping to balance everything with maybe 1/3 - 1/2 stop more light on the dog. Just enough to draw the eye there. I have seen many win shots and they all seem very plain and flat lit to me. I am trying to go for something a little more dimensional and awesome. If not I can go to just a two MagSphere setup off to my sides and straight on will give me the same effect at that distance as a large softbox (only with probably better catch lights.)

Only time will tell my friends. Oh hi-ho hi-ho it's off a shooting I must go!!!